This invention relates to a method and device to hold a flexible bag in an open manner in order to facilitate its filling.
Bags such as refuse bags, shopping bags etc., used for collecting and holding objects are commonly made of flexible material such as plastics, fabric, paper or other synthetics. They are normally used for holding objects either for easy transportation, storage, or disposal. The most annoying problem in using a bag made of a flexible material is to maintain it in an open manner for filling. However, it is sometimes awkward for a user to open the bag with one hand while filling it with the other. For example, when using a flexible refuse bag outdoor for collecting leaves in the fall, the flexible bag would be fluttered by the wind which makes maintaining the bag in the open condition extremely difficult. Even indoor, it is inefficient and troublesome to maintain the bag opened with one hand and to fill it with the other only free hand.
Many devices have been developed to alleviate the above problem. One common device is in the form of a fixed bracket designed to match the size of the bag or slightly larger. The flexible bag may be mounted by stretching its lip portion to wrap tightly over the bracket. The resilient tension of the bag material would maintain the bag in the open manner. With this device, the bracket must have a relatively larger dimension than the lip portion of the bag creating the resilient tension strong enough to hold the bag mounted in an open manner. Often times, the lip portion of the bag would be torn when the user attempts to stretch it to wrap over the bracket. Furthermore, in use, the weight of the load in the bag would simply pull the bag off from the bracket. The latter problem may be mitigated by providing a support container having a comparable size as the bag. It may be placed within the container with its lip portion again stretched and wrapped tightly around the upper opened rim portion of the container so that the container would support the weight of the load within the bag. However, the bulkiness of the container makes it difficult to be carried around. The container would occupy storage space, and the lip portion of the bag is still subject to the tearing problem. It is also difficult to remove the bag from the container for its final destination, and therefore, it limits the benefits of using flexible bags.
There are devices for maintaining a flexible bag in the open condition with a bracket having fasteners provided thereon. The lip portion of the bag can be secured to the bracket by the fasteners. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,469 to F. G. Ockerman, it shows a portable mounting device for a flexible bag used for collecting and disposing animal excrement. The device consists of a larger annular ring and a smaller annular ring. The smaller ring is insertable into the larger ring so that the lip portion of the flexible bag may be sandwiched between the two rings thus mounted together. Adjustable and engageable fasteners are provided between the two annular rings for maintaining the two rings tightly mounted together. Such device is not desirable for mounting a flexible bag intended for holding objects having a relatively heavy weight since the weight of the objects would pull the bag out of the mounting.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,414,575 to T. McCart shows a bag holder which consists of an annular base mounted on three supporting legs. The inner side wall of the annular base has a stepped configuration which is engageable with the similarly step configured outer side wall of a funnel shaped chute. The lip portion of a flexible bag can be sandwiched and grasped between the base of the chute so as to maintain it in the open condition. Such device would inherently damage the lip portion of the bag by the grasping action between the base and the chute. The weight of the load in the bag would also tend to pull the bag out from the mounting.